A Word about the Son of Peace

Today I want to share a word about ther Son of Peace as I comment on Isaiah 9:2-7.  This passage reads:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawned on those living in the land of darkness.  You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. For You have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian.  For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

Usually, the best way to tell a story is to start at the beginning. Sometimes, however, a different process is required. Going in reverse is not aways comfortable but is often the best technique.  It is very common for military people and first responders to back into a parking place. The idea is to do your backing up when you have time and not when you need to respond quickly. Also, when my dad was ready to go somewhere, he’d tell us, “If you are waiting on me, you’re backing up!” 

Today, I think the best way forward for us is to take this passage of Scripture in reverse. Let’s begin with verse 7 which tells us that,

The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

The Priority of Peace:

Some people love chaos and don’t feel comfortable without living in it. They are the ones who never plan ahead, or who can’t ever make up their minds, or who have the habit of throwing verbal grenades into a conversation. I recently saw a meme in which a person at a holiday party managed to insult both sides of the family at the same time, and while they all started arguing, the instigator left and went outside to enjoy the peace and quiet there.

Spontaneity is refreshing, but chaos can be upsetting and dangerous.  Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed at the San Fransico airport in July 2013. During the chaos and confusion after the crash, one of the responding fire trucks ran over and crushed a young girl who had been ejected from the airplane. In their desperate efforts to save lives, they took one by accident.

During the January 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam, US-backed forces fought a battle with insurgents in the village of Ben Tre. The community suffered much damage during the battle, and reporter Peter Arnett quoted an unnamed American major who said, "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it." Although the truth of the original quote has been challenged, it has often been paraphrased as, "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

Our God is a God who does things decently and in order. He wants to bless His people, and He wants to give us abundant life. He won’t destroy us, in order to save us! In fact, God has a zeal to bring us peace!

God’s zeal to bless us means that He will take extreme measures to bring us peace. Zeal is like obsession, but different,

I remember once being obsessed with the theme song from a movie, and I wanted a copy of it on my mixtape I played in my car. My wife had a Parent Teacher Association meeting that night at school, and so I was left unsupervised. I pulled out cassette tapes, a tape recorder, our video cassette recorder, and a box full of audio cables. By the time she got home our living room looked like an explosion had gone off in it, but I had a fresh mixtape including that theme song. That is obsession.

Zeal is like obsession, but it has an ethical and moral element that obsession is missing, Our God will do, would do, and did do, whatever it took to bring us peace. He would even come to the earth as a baby boy. He would even die on a Roman cross.

In His zeal, God made our peace His priority. In doing so, He sent us the Person of Peace. Let’s review verses 6 and 7:

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will accomplish this.

The Person of Peace:

In human culture two poles of life exist. First, we have the pole of principle. Principles are ideas and concepts to which we ascribe truth and efficacy. These are ideas in which we invest ourselves, like the slogan from the television show Superman. Superman fought for “truth, justice, and the American way.”

The problem with principles is that they are words, and words can have different meanings for different people. For years now, many church leaders have prescribed that Christian ministry must be “relevant.”  In fact, I have seen a number of churches with that very name. But the question is, “Relevant to whom?” A ministry might be relevant to me, but not to you.

Because principles incorporate the element of belief, they often devolve into dogma and legalism. 

The other pole of life in human culture is personality. Instead of investing in principle, we invest our belief and trust in an individual. This is problematic because, far too often, people are not trustworthy.

During World War Two, every German military officer swore a personal oath to Adolph Hitler as the Fuhrer of Germany. Many of them obeyed his orders to commit war crimes and other atrocities. When they were charged with these crimes after the war, their defense was, “I was just following orders.” Most were found guilty and hanged because of their commitment to an evil person.

Because personality involves devotion to a person, it often devolves into licentiousness.

Humans struggle to keep our lives in a proper balance in all areas of our lives. Politically, liberals confuse indulgence with compassion, and conservatives confuse freedom with liberty. Finding the balance between principles and personality is particularly difficult. Jesus, on the other hand, is perfect in every way, including balance.

First, let’s look at his personality.  He was born for us, and He came to us. He is wonderful, and mighty, and eternal. He came as a child, so we can relate to Him as a human, but He is our Father, who guides us and watches over us. He promotes both peace and prosperity.

Next, let’s look at His principles. He reigns with justice and righteousness, and He rules over His Kingdom. As a counselor, He understands our hearts and minds, and He understands our emotions, and our motives as well. He will never tire of administering God’s will, and He is eager to establish it and sustain it.

Also, we must remember that Jesus directs His people to look for people who are like Himself.  When Jesus sent out the 70, He told them to look for the “son of peace.” Paul told the Corinthians to follow him as he followed Christ.

What we need in our lives is someone we can trust who knows what they are doing. Once, when I was a child, my dad had to do some work on our roof, and he allowed me to go up with him. When it was time to descend the ladder, my dad went first, but I froze at the top, afraid of making a misstep and falling. Dad climbed back up and asked me to hold the ladder with my hands and extend a leg to him. When I did, he placed my foot on a rung of the ladder, and said, “There you are. Now, come on down.” And I did.

God knew that for us to have peace, He’d have to send the right person, to do that job the right way. He sent us the Person of Peace, His Son, Jesus. 

Finally, let’s see what God’s zeal, along with God’s Son, produces in our lives. We can see that in verses 2-5.

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; a light has dawnedon those living in the land of darkness.  You have enlarged the nation and increased its joy. The people have rejoiced before You as they rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice when dividing spoils. For You have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as You did on the day of Midian.  For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.

The Product of Peace:

The effects of what the Son of Peace will produce in our lives are almost too many to mention, and they are amazingly powerful in transforming our lives. 

First, in Him, we find light for our dark spiritual lives. Light drives out fear and insecurity, and it illuminates the truth for us. Not only does it inhibit bad things from happening, but it also points the way towards all the good things that God has in store for us.

Next, in Him, we find joy as God expands our spiritual lives. We know that He has sent the Holy Spirit to help us grow-up in God. The Spirit also gives us spiritual gifts that equip us to be “laborers together with God.” As we grow in the Lord, and as we participate in His good and perfect work, we experience joy, the joy of the Lord, which is our strength, as well as the joy of serving Him and watching His Kingdom grow.

Finally, in Him, we find salvation in the Son of Peace. In the same way that God delivered the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, God sent the Son of Peace to deliver us from our slavery to sin. 

In the same way that God won the battle of Jericho for the Children of Israel, God sent the Son of Peace to win all of our spiritual battles for us, but also all of our mental battles, all of our emotional battles, and all of our relational battles, as well. 

In the same way that God gave the Children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey, He send the Son of Peace to give us an abundant life as we live for Him.

In the Son of Peace, we don’t just benefit from the absence of strife, we also benefit from a full and meaningful life as well.

Conclusion:

During this Christmas aseason are you searching for peace? If you are, the place where you find it is at the manger, in the Son of Peace.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt